Just a day ago everyone assumed four-star running back Desmond Scott would arrive at Rutgers next year as one of the Scarlet Knights' most prized recruits. Today the Durham (N.C.) Hillside prospect announced that he has had a change of heart.

In a move that may surprise many, Scott has decommitted from Rutgers and said he intends to enroll at Duke next year.

"Since I committed to Rutgers the distance has been in the back of my mind," Scott explained on Thursday. "I live ten minutes from Duke and eight hours from Rutgers. I realized I'd be a long way from family and friends and that started to wear on me a little bit.

"Duke never gave up on me after I committed to Rugers. I respect Coach Cutcliffe. He's got a good offensive mind. I think they'll use me the same way at Duke as they would at Rutgers. They'll let me run the ball and touch the ball a lot. I think I can be on the field all the time."

For Scott, the decision has been liberating.

"I feel like a burden has been lifted," he said. "It had been weighing me down so there's a lot of relief. I'm going to get on the phone and call some kids to see if I can recruit for (Duke) a little.

"I felt comfortable recruiting for Rutgers but this is more of a natural fit. Being a kid from (North Carolina), I'm going to tell other guys we're going to turn things around and do it quickly."

Scott also mentioned that Duke had been his leader until he took a pair of visits to Rutgers and West Virginia. In the end, the chance to attend school closer to home was just too appealing to pass up.

Scott Montgomery was responsible for recruiting Scott to Duke.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound all-purpose back is the second prospect from Hillside to commit to Blue Devils in this class. The first was dual-threat quarterback Cory Gattis.

"Me and Cory are close," he explained. "We both feel like we can help turn things around. He's being recruiting as a quarterback and an athlete, and they're going to use both of us in a lot of different ways."

Scott is a member of the Rivals250 and the No. 4 all-purpose back in the nation according to Rivals.com. He is Duke's second four-star recruit, the first being defensive tackle John Drew, who also decommitted from another program (Georgia Tech) before announcing his intentions to attend Duke.